Ceramic painting course in Basel

A lump of clay. Two hands. Surprisingly many possibilities.

Handbuilding is where some of ceramics’ oldest techniques meet almost unlimited creative freedom. Using pinching, slabs and coils, you can turn clay into everything from cups and plates to vases and sculptural forms.

Throughout the course, you’ll explore the three fundamental handbuilding techniques: pinching, slab building and coiling. Each opens up a different way of working with clay and gives you new possibilities for creating both functional and decorative pieces.

Through a series of guided projects, you’ll gradually build your ceramic toolbox: learning how to construct, join and shape clay, play with textures and surface decoration, and finally glaze your creations.

It’s tactile, playful and wonderfully versatile – with plenty of room to experiment and develop pieces that feel completely your own.

✏️ What to Expect
You’ll explore the fundamental handbuilding techniques through a series of projects:

Pinching – shape your first cup or mug using one of the most intuitive ways of working with clay.

Slab Building – learn to work with rolled clay slabs and transform them into plates and other constructed forms.

Coiling – build upwards with coils of clay to create a vase or taller vessel.

Glazing & Finishing – explore colour and surface to give your handmade pieces their final character.

Throughout the course, you’ll receive demonstrations, individual guidance and plenty of freedom to interpret each project in your own way.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• The fundamentals of pinch pottery
• How to construct forms using clay slabs
• How to build larger and taller pieces using coils
• How to join clay securely and create stable forms
• How to control shape, thickness and structure
• Surface decoration using textures, patterns and carving
• The basics of glazing and finishing
• How to combine these techniques when developing your own projects

🤔 Is This the Right Course for Me?
This course is a great fit if you enjoy making things with your hands, experimenting with form and texture, and having creative freedom within a guided learning process.

You’ll probably appreciate it most if you’re curious about how objects are constructed and enjoy the process of slowly building something from scratch. Handbuilding allows for precision, but it also celebrates irregularity, character and personal expression – your pieces don’t all need to look identical or perfectly symmetrical.

If you’re mainly interested in learning the technical skill of throwing symmetrical vessels on the pottery wheel, our Wheel Throwing Beginner Course is probably the better choice.

But if you want to build a broad foundation in ceramics, discover several versatile techniques and eventually combine them freely in your own projects, this is a fantastic place to start.

One event. Two creative vibes. Endless leafy goodness.

Ready to roll up your sleeves and make something truly yours? In this all-in-one ceramics event, you’ll shape and paint your very own leaf-inspired plate — earthy, elegant, and totally handmade by you.

Shape it

We’ll guide you through the basics of hand-building with clay, showing you how to form a beautiful plate with soft, organic curves inspired by nature. Whether you keep it simple or add textured details, this is your chance to slow down and get grounded (in the best way).

Paint it

Once your plate is shaped, you’ll dive into underglaze painting — adding colour, contrast, and your personal touch. Our instructors will be there to offer tips and inspo, but you make the creative calls. Botanical pattern? Bright autumn tones? Jungle chic? You do you.

🧡 After the event, we’ll take care of glazing and firing your piece. It’ll be ready to pick up in about 4 weeks — a little slice of ceramic joy, handmade and totally unique.

Perfect for first-timers, nature lovers, and anyone who wants to make something slow, soulful, and stunning.
https://shop.paintiteasy.ch/en/tickets/terms

Scratch beneath the surface — and reveal something beautiful.

Sgraffito — from the Italian “to scratch” — is a decorative ceramics technique that’s all about revealing contrast, pattern, and surprise. In this inspiring 3-hour workshop, you’ll learn how to turn a simple slab of clay into a stunning ceramic plate using this ancient and captivating method.

We’ll start by rolling and shaping your plate by hand, then applying a layer of coloured slip (liquid clay). Once that’s set, the real magic begins — you’ll carve into the surface to create your own design, revealing the clay underneath in bold lines, fine textures, or whatever shapes your imagination leads you to. No drawing skills needed — just a sense of curiosity and a love of detail.

You’ll be guided every step of the way in a relaxed and welcoming studio atmosphere. From the first press of clay to the final scratch of your carving tool, you’ll explore the sgraffito process with hands-on support, plenty of encouragement, and a glass of something refreshing in hand — your choice of wine, tea, prosecco, or something non-alcoholic to sip as you shape.

After the session, we’ll take care of glazing and firing your piece. Your finished sgraffito plate will be ready for pickup in about 4 weeks. One plate is included in the price — if you’re inspired to make more, you can simply pay for extra materials on the spot.

This workshop is perfect for anyone looking to slow down, scratch beneath the surface, and uncover something beautifully their own.

✨ How PIE Ceramics Workshops Work

Our ceramics workshops are one-off sessions designed for intensive skill-sharing in a relaxed, creative atmosphere. Whether you’re just starting your journey with clay or already have some experience and want to explore a new technique, this is the perfect chance to get your hands dirty, learn something new — and follow your creativity wherever it leads.

Each workshop focuses on a specific process or form, guided by a professional ceramic artist. You’ll learn the core technique step by step, then have space to experiment, personalise, and take your piece in whatever direction feels right to you. It’s structured, supportive, and creatively wide open.

Workshops take place in our cosy, fully-equipped studios in Zürich and Basel, where everything’s set up to support your creative flow — including materials, tools, good lighting, and good vibes.

No pressure, no perfection — just the joy of discovering what you can create with your own two hands.

🏺 What’s Included

• All tools, materials, and clay
• Personal guidance from an experienced ceramic instructor
• One piece included for firing and glazing (extras optional for a small fee)
• A welcoming and inspiring studio space to explore ceramics at your own pace
• The option to return and glaze your piece in one of two ways:
  → Join a glazing workshop at a discounted price
  → Or glaze it yourself in our Creative Café for CHF 20 — walk in or reserve a table during opening hours

🔥 Firing & Pickup

We take care of firing and glazing your ceramic piece after the workshop.
Firing takes approx. 4 weeks – we’ll contact you when your piece is ready for pickup.


📋 Good to Know

• Arrival: Please come 10–15 minutes early to settle in and grab your welcome drink
• Cancellations: Tickets are transferable, but non-refundable within 36 hours
• Rescheduling: Possible up to 72 hours before the workshop
• Pickup: Pieces are ready around 4 weeks after your session
• All levels welcome — no experience needed, just curiosity and a willingness to get a little messy
• Alcohol: Only served to guests aged 18+

👉 Full terms & policies: shop.paintiteasy.ch/en/tickets/terms

From your first lump of clay to pieces you’ve thrown yourself.

There’s something almost hypnotic about watching a piece of clay take shape on the wheel – but getting there is a skill. And this course is where you learn it properly.

Starting from the very beginning, you’ll get comfortable at the pottery wheel and gradually build the techniques needed to create your own vessels. You’ll learn how to prepare and centre your clay, open it, pull up the walls and start controlling shape and proportion.

As the course progresses, you’ll move from simply keeping the clay under control to intentionally creating cups, bowls, small vessels and other forms – then refining, trimming and decorating the pieces you want to keep.

It takes patience. Things will wobble. Some pieces might collapse. And then suddenly your hands start understanding what to do – and that’s where the magic happens.

✏️ What to Expect

• Guided demonstrations followed by plenty of hands-on practice
• Your own workspace at the pottery wheel
• A gradual progression from basic exercises to creating your own vessels
• Individual feedback and guidance throughout the course
• Time to repeat techniques, experiment and build confidence
• Trimming, refining and decorating your selected pieces
• An introduction to glazing and finishing your work

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• How to prepare clay for throwing
• How to centre clay confidently on the wheel
• Opening the clay and establishing an even base
• Pulling and controlling walls
• Creating and refining different vessel shapes
• Trimming and finishing your pieces
• Basic surface decoration and glazing techniques
• The foundations you need to continue practising wheel throwing independently

🤔 Is This the Right Course for Me?
This course is for you if you want to actually learn how to throw on the pottery wheel, rather than simply try it once.

You’ll probably enjoy it most if you like learning with your hands, don’t mind repeating a technique several times and find satisfaction in gradually getting better at something. Wheel throwing takes patience – your first bowl might be wonky, your second might collapse, and that’s very much part of learning.

If you’re mainly looking for a relaxed one-time experience and want to try the wheel without committing to learning the technique, our Wheel Throwing Taster Workshop might be a better fit.

But if you want to build solid foundations, understand what your hands are actually doing and gain the confidence to continue practising afterwards, this is your course.

A lump of clay. Two hands. Surprisingly many possibilities.

Handbuilding is where some of ceramics’ oldest techniques meet almost unlimited creative freedom. Using pinching, slabs and coils, you can turn clay into everything from cups and plates to vases and sculptural forms.

Throughout the course, you’ll explore the three fundamental handbuilding techniques: pinching, slab building and coiling. Each opens up a different way of working with clay and gives you new possibilities for creating both functional and decorative pieces.

Through a series of guided projects, you’ll gradually build your ceramic toolbox: learning how to construct, join and shape clay, play with textures and surface decoration, and finally glaze your creations.

It’s tactile, playful and wonderfully versatile – with plenty of room to experiment and develop pieces that feel completely your own.

✏️ What to Expect
You’ll explore the fundamental handbuilding techniques through a series of projects:

Pinching – shape your first cup or mug using one of the most intuitive ways of working with clay.

Slab Building – learn to work with rolled clay slabs and transform them into plates and other constructed forms.

Coiling – build upwards with coils of clay to create a vase or taller vessel.

Glazing & Finishing – explore colour and surface to give your handmade pieces their final character.

Throughout the course, you’ll receive demonstrations, individual guidance and plenty of freedom to interpret each project in your own way.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• The fundamentals of pinch pottery
• How to construct forms using clay slabs
• How to build larger and taller pieces using coils
• How to join clay securely and create stable forms
• How to control shape, thickness and structure
• Surface decoration using textures, patterns and carving
• The basics of glazing and finishing
• How to combine these techniques when developing your own projects

🤔 Is This the Right Course for Me?
This course is a great fit if you enjoy making things with your hands, experimenting with form and texture, and having creative freedom within a guided learning process.

You’ll probably appreciate it most if you’re curious about how objects are constructed and enjoy the process of slowly building something from scratch. Handbuilding allows for precision, but it also celebrates irregularity, character and personal expression – your pieces don’t all need to look identical or perfectly symmetrical.

If you’re mainly interested in learning the technical skill of throwing symmetrical vessels on the pottery wheel, our Wheel Throwing Beginner Course is probably the better choice.

But if you want to build a broad foundation in ceramics, discover several versatile techniques and eventually combine them freely in your own projects, this is a fantastic place to start.

From your first lump of clay to pieces you’ve thrown yourself.

There’s something almost hypnotic about watching a piece of clay take shape on the wheel – but getting there is a skill. And this course is where you learn it properly.

Starting from the very beginning, you’ll get comfortable at the pottery wheel and gradually build the techniques needed to create your own vessels. You’ll learn how to prepare and centre your clay, open it, pull up the walls and start controlling shape and proportion.

As the course progresses, you’ll move from simply keeping the clay under control to intentionally creating cups, bowls, small vessels and other forms – then refining, trimming and decorating the pieces you want to keep.

It takes patience. Things will wobble. Some pieces might collapse. And then suddenly your hands start understanding what to do – and that’s where the magic happens.

✏️ What to Expect

• Guided demonstrations followed by plenty of hands-on practice
• Your own workspace at the pottery wheel
• A gradual progression from basic exercises to creating your own vessels
• Individual feedback and guidance throughout the course
• Time to repeat techniques, experiment and build confidence
• Trimming, refining and decorating your selected pieces
• An introduction to glazing and finishing your work

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• How to prepare clay for throwing
• How to centre clay confidently on the wheel
• Opening the clay and establishing an even base
• Pulling and controlling walls
• Creating and refining different vessel shapes
• Trimming and finishing your pieces
• Basic surface decoration and glazing techniques
• The foundations you need to continue practising wheel throwing independently

🤔 Is This the Right Course for Me?
This course is for you if you want to actually learn how to throw on the pottery wheel, rather than simply try it once.

You’ll probably enjoy it most if you like learning with your hands, don’t mind repeating a technique several times and find satisfaction in gradually getting better at something. Wheel throwing takes patience – your first bowl might be wonky, your second might collapse, and that’s very much part of learning.

If you’re mainly looking for a relaxed one-time experience and want to try the wheel without committing to learning the technique, our Wheel Throwing Taster Workshop might be a better fit.

But if you want to build solid foundations, understand what your hands are actually doing and gain the confidence to continue practising afterwards, this is your course.

A lump of clay. Two hands. Surprisingly many possibilities.

Handbuilding is where some of ceramics’ oldest techniques meet almost unlimited creative freedom. Using pinching, slabs and coils, you can turn clay into everything from cups and plates to vases and sculptural forms.

Throughout the course, you’ll explore the three fundamental handbuilding techniques: pinching, slab building and coiling. Each opens up a different way of working with clay and gives you new possibilities for creating both functional and decorative pieces.

Through a series of guided projects, you’ll gradually build your ceramic toolbox: learning how to construct, join and shape clay, play with textures and surface decoration, and finally glaze your creations.

It’s tactile, playful and wonderfully versatile – with plenty of room to experiment and develop pieces that feel completely your own.

✏️ What to Expect
You’ll explore the fundamental handbuilding techniques through a series of projects:

Pinching – shape your first cup or mug using one of the most intuitive ways of working with clay.

Slab Building – learn to work with rolled clay slabs and transform them into plates and other constructed forms.

Coiling – build upwards with coils of clay to create a vase or taller vessel.

Glazing & Finishing – explore colour and surface to give your handmade pieces their final character.

Throughout the course, you’ll receive demonstrations, individual guidance and plenty of freedom to interpret each project in your own way.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• The fundamentals of pinch pottery
• How to construct forms using clay slabs
• How to build larger and taller pieces using coils
• How to join clay securely and create stable forms
• How to control shape, thickness and structure
• Surface decoration using textures, patterns and carving
• The basics of glazing and finishing
• How to combine these techniques when developing your own projects

🤔 Is This the Right Course for Me?
This course is a great fit if you enjoy making things with your hands, experimenting with form and texture, and having creative freedom within a guided learning process.

You’ll probably appreciate it most if you’re curious about how objects are constructed and enjoy the process of slowly building something from scratch. Handbuilding allows for precision, but it also celebrates irregularity, character and personal expression – your pieces don’t all need to look identical or perfectly symmetrical.

If you’re mainly interested in learning the technical skill of throwing symmetrical vessels on the pottery wheel, our Wheel Throwing Beginner Course is probably the better choice.

But if you want to build a broad foundation in ceramics, discover several versatile techniques and eventually combine them freely in your own projects, this is a fantastic place to start.

From your first lump of clay to pieces you’ve thrown yourself.

There’s something almost hypnotic about watching a piece of clay take shape on the wheel – but getting there is a skill. And this course is where you learn it properly.

Starting from the very beginning, you’ll get comfortable at the pottery wheel and gradually build the techniques needed to create your own vessels. You’ll learn how to prepare and centre your clay, open it, pull up the walls and start controlling shape and proportion.

As the course progresses, you’ll move from simply keeping the clay under control to intentionally creating cups, bowls, small vessels and other forms – then refining, trimming and decorating the pieces you want to keep.

It takes patience. Things will wobble. Some pieces might collapse. And then suddenly your hands start understanding what to do – and that’s where the magic happens.

✏️ What to Expect

• Guided demonstrations followed by plenty of hands-on practice
• Your own workspace at the pottery wheel
• A gradual progression from basic exercises to creating your own vessels
• Individual feedback and guidance throughout the course
• Time to repeat techniques, experiment and build confidence
• Trimming, refining and decorating your selected pieces
• An introduction to glazing and finishing your work

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• How to prepare clay for throwing
• How to centre clay confidently on the wheel
• Opening the clay and establishing an even base
• Pulling and controlling walls
• Creating and refining different vessel shapes
• Trimming and finishing your pieces
• Basic surface decoration and glazing techniques
• The foundations you need to continue practising wheel throwing independently

🤔 Is This the Right Course for Me?
This course is for you if you want to actually learn how to throw on the pottery wheel, rather than simply try it once.

You’ll probably enjoy it most if you like learning with your hands, don’t mind repeating a technique several times and find satisfaction in gradually getting better at something. Wheel throwing takes patience – your first bowl might be wonky, your second might collapse, and that’s very much part of learning.

If you’re mainly looking for a relaxed one-time experience and want to try the wheel without committing to learning the technique, our Wheel Throwing Taster Workshop might be a better fit.

But if you want to build solid foundations, understand what your hands are actually doing and gain the confidence to continue practising afterwards, this is your course.

A lump of clay. Two hands. Surprisingly many possibilities.

Handbuilding is where some of ceramics’ oldest techniques meet almost unlimited creative freedom. Using pinching, slabs and coils, you can turn clay into everything from cups and plates to vases and sculptural forms.

Throughout the course, you’ll explore the three fundamental handbuilding techniques: pinching, slab building and coiling. Each opens up a different way of working with clay and gives you new possibilities for creating both functional and decorative pieces.

Through a series of guided projects, you’ll gradually build your ceramic toolbox: learning how to construct, join and shape clay, play with textures and surface decoration, and finally glaze your creations.

It’s tactile, playful and wonderfully versatile – with plenty of room to experiment and develop pieces that feel completely your own.

✏️ What to Expect
You’ll explore the fundamental handbuilding techniques through a series of projects:

Pinching – shape your first cup or mug using one of the most intuitive ways of working with clay.

Slab Building – learn to work with rolled clay slabs and transform them into plates and other constructed forms.

Coiling – build upwards with coils of clay to create a vase or taller vessel.

Glazing & Finishing – explore colour and surface to give your handmade pieces their final character.

Throughout the course, you’ll receive demonstrations, individual guidance and plenty of freedom to interpret each project in your own way.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• The fundamentals of pinch pottery
• How to construct forms using clay slabs
• How to build larger and taller pieces using coils
• How to join clay securely and create stable forms
• How to control shape, thickness and structure
• Surface decoration using textures, patterns and carving
• The basics of glazing and finishing
• How to combine these techniques when developing your own projects

🤔 Is This the Right Course for Me?
This course is a great fit if you enjoy making things with your hands, experimenting with form and texture, and having creative freedom within a guided learning process.

You’ll probably appreciate it most if you’re curious about how objects are constructed and enjoy the process of slowly building something from scratch. Handbuilding allows for precision, but it also celebrates irregularity, character and personal expression – your pieces don’t all need to look identical or perfectly symmetrical.

If you’re mainly interested in learning the technical skill of throwing symmetrical vessels on the pottery wheel, our Wheel Throwing Beginner Course is probably the better choice.

But if you want to build a broad foundation in ceramics, discover several versatile techniques and eventually combine them freely in your own projects, this is a fantastic place to start.